Spider-Man Sneak Peek! Five Amazing Shockers We Learned About the New Film

We're still five whole months away from the feverishly anticipated The Amazing Spider-Man reboot starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans (in 3D!). But that didn't stop Sony from getting the Peter Parker party started early today; the studio gathered fans in four cities and three countries to bring out its stars, show fresh footage and even answer a few questions ahead—way ahead—of its July 3 release.

2. Think Spider-Man meets The Dark Knight: Look for darker, more sarcastic humor, a more antagonistic relationship with law enforcement, and more of a self-made hero. And in this version, Parker gets some of his web-slinging studliness from his own talent for invention—as it was in the original comic books. "We wanted to treat Peter Parker in a more realistic way," director Mark Webb told fans from Los Angeles.

3. Or think Spider-Man meets The Dark Knight meets...Star Wars? No, the Lizard is not Spidey's Dad (we hope), but there are a lot of daddy issues wrapped around the hero-villain dynamic. Dr. Curt Connors, aka the Lizard, the villain at the center of the tale, holds the key to Peter Parker's questions about a mysterious past. "With Dr. Curt Connors, what makes him a more emotional presence in Peter's life is that he had a very close relationship to Peter's father," said Rhys Ifans, who plays the villain and who was speaking to fans from London. "That makes the connection a very complex and emotional one."

4. The new Spider-Man is totally scared. "I'm terrified right now," Andrew Garfield admitted while speaking to fans from New York. "It's so overwhelming to be representing this symbol ... but it's a reverent terror." As for why he took the role, knowing the great responsibility that comes with it, he quipped, "I'm not an idiot."5. The next Spider-Man will be... Garfield imagines Spider-Man evolving in a very interesting way in the future. "Hopefully next time he'll be a half-Hispanic, half African-American actor," he told fans.

So what do you think, people? Are you excited for the next iteration of the popular character?